Your Reliable Tips on Securing Appointments From an Emergency Dentist

How do you request or book an emergency dental appointment? The procedure for booking is quite simple. You have to place a call at the practice and request an emergency appointment. But here you have something to determine. Before you place your call it is important to make sure that your problem at hand is actually an emergency. This brings us to the question of what is considered a dental emergency and what is not. Let us explore the answer in the following sections of this blog post. Along with we will also cover a few relevant topics so that you can make informed decisions in the future. 

Dental Emergency – Understanding the Basics

When your toothache or discomfort in the mouth bars you from carrying out your normal tasks or daily activities the condition is termed as a dental emergency. A dental emergency is strikingly different from a medical emergency. When you suffer from a dental emergency there is no need to visit the accident and emergency room (A&E) of a hospital.

Typical Cases of Dental Emergencies Involve the Following –

• Acute pain in the tooth
• Severe, nonstop bleeding from the mouth or oral cavity
• An abscessed tooth and
• A knocked-out or convulsed tooth

While understanding the situations that are considered as dental emergencies you should also know about the conditions that are not considered as dental emergencies. A few examples that do not qualify as dental emergencies are –

• Toothache is not considered a dental emergency unless the pain is acute or unbearable.
• A missing crown, missing filling, or a cracked tooth is not considered a dental emergency if there is a sharp fragment left in the mouth that causes discomfort.

An emergency dentist in Wimbledon has something important to suggest in the ongoing context. According to him if you think your condition does not qualify as a dental emergency. But still urgent treatment is necessary in that case you should contact your usual dental practice. They may be able to arrange an “out of turn” appointment so that you get treatment sooner than usual.

Booking an Emergency Appointment with a Dentist

First, you assess whether your condition qualifies as a dental emergency. Then you contact a dentist fast and book an emergency appointment. Usually, dental practices keep several appointment slots unreserved to accommodate cases of dental emergencies. This is a standard practice around the year. Therefore securing an emergency appointment with a dentist is not very difficult provided one is indeed suffering from a dental emergency. Usually one gets to see the dentist within the following 24 hours in these cases. This appointment could either be within the usual business hours of practice or beyond.   

What You Should Do While Waiting for an Emergency Appointment

While you are waiting for an emergency appointment with a dentist. You should avoid doing anything that may make your condition more serious. The steps that you should take in these circumstances depend on the particular condition that you are suffering from.

For example, if you think you are suffering from a tooth abscess then you should better avoid any hot food or drink. Brush the teeth carefully with a soft-bristled toothbrush. Do not floss the area around the problem tooth. Moreover, it is important to swish your mouth with lukewarm saltwater before the appointment. This is meant to disinfect your mouth to a large extent.

Alternatively, if you have a knocked-out tooth then first you should hold the tooth by its crown and not by the base where the roots are present. Clean the tooth with cold running water. If you can place it back in the socket it is good else drop it in a cup of cold water or milk. This keeps the tooth roots alive for almost another couple of hours. Then rush to a dentist; the knocked tooth can be restored if the treatment starts within an hour and a half from the unfortunate incident.

Things You Can Expect During an Emergency Dental Appointment

An Emergency dentist near me says while attending patients on emergency appointments dentists are focused on identifying the root cause of a problem and providing the right treatment. When a patient is suffering from acute pain in the tooth the dentist may have to extract the tooth. However, before executing any procedure on a patient a dentist always discusses the possible treatment options with a patient. Here are different cases:

Completely Knocked Out Tooth

In cases of completely knocked out teeth, it could be possible for dentists to restore the tooth back to its place. However, restoration of a knocked-out tooth depends on how soon the treatment starts following the traumatic incident. As a temporary solution, a knocked-out tooth is reinstated in its place with the help of a splint on both sides. The splints are taken off in a few weeks at the end of the treatment. In case a knockout cannot be restored, a dentist discusses the options of implant or bridge. These are basically treatments meant to fill up the gap on your jawline that is caused by a missing tooth or teeth.

Abscessed Tooth

In the case of an abscessed tooth, a dentist makes every possible attempt to remove the abscess. Several procedures are applicable to treat a dental abscess. The exact procedure is selected by the dentist depending on the situation involved in a particular case. An Emergency Dentist London, Mitcham explains usually an incision is usually made in the affected tooth to drain out the infection and the accumulated puss. But this is a short-term solution. This is mostly followed by an RCT or root canal to get rid of the infection from the tooth once and for all. Then the tooth is filled and closed.

On the other hand, if a root canal cannot be performed on an abscessed tooth in that case the tooth could be extracted.

Conclusion

If you are suffering from any dental emergency situation you should not let your treatment be delayed. One of the best places to seek emergency dental treatments in and around London is the SW19 Confidental Dental Clinic.

Our practice is located on Abbey Parade in Wimbledon. Here we have a dedicated team of qualified dentists and dental nurses to provide you the right treatment using the latest technology. At the SW19 Confidential Dental Clinic, we accept both private and NHS patients. We provide a long list of modern treatments covering cosmetic, restorative, preventive, orthodontic, and general dentistry.